The West Windsor Township Council endorsed the housing element and fair share plan needed to address West Windsor’s third-round Council on Affordable Housing obligations, allowing the township to submit its plans to COAH before the December 31 deadline.##M:[more]##
The township needed to adopt the plan, which deals with its obligations under the new third-round regulations created by COAH by December 31, or risk being sued by developers, as well as falling out from under COAH’s jurisdiction and having its affordable housing trust fund money taken away. The council vote on December 8 came after the plan was approved by the Planning Board last month.
The sites include a 380-unit development planned on the Princeton Theological Seminary land off Wheeler Way; 35 affordable units from a development in the area of Princeton-Hightstown and Old Trenton roads; four or five credits from a group home the Eden Institute proposes to develop on Wood Hollow Drive; and 15 additional affordable units at the Project Freedom site on the Maneely tract off Old Bear Brook Road. Project Freedom is a non-profit organization that develops barrier-free housing to enable disabled individuals to live independently.
The township’s cumulative fair share obligation for the first through third rounds, using COAH projections, is 1,”413 — 899 for the first and second rounds; 491 in the third round; and 23 third round rehabilitation share credits. Officials calculated that with units already accounted for in prior plans, together with rental bonus credits carried over from the second round, 1,”298 of those units have already been satisfied, leaving 115 remaining.
The Maneely site, located on Alexander and Bear Brook roads encompasses 50 acres, 37 of which are developable. The plan calls for mixed-use development of 75 housing units, with a detached office and retail component as well as executive suites.
Before the vote, Councilwoman Heidi Kleinman said she was frustrated that her concern with the setbacks on Old Bear Brook Road included in the Maneely portion of the plan were kept at 35 feet when the current setbacks for homes on the road are at 50 feet. After the plan was approved at the Planning Board level with the 35-foot setback, Kleinman said she learned that the current houses on the right side of the street are about 50 feet back from the road, and what was approved, and coming before council, was a 35-foot setback. “I really feel that the number should be changed to address this issue that Old Bear Brook is a residential street,” Kleinman said.
Township officials, including Township Attorney Michael Herbert said that the council’s job was solely to endorse the fair share element and third-round plan as approved by the board, and that the ordinances could be changed to reflect the setback when it comes back from COAH.
“We would still have to introduce the ordinance to rezone the properties,” explained Sam Surtees, the township’s division of land use manager.
Planning Board Attorney Gerald Muller said that if the council wanted greater setbacks, it could be changed in the 45-day period after COAH approves the plan.
Kleinman said she still felt like she has brought up the issue for the past two years that the township officials have worked on a plan for the Maneely site, but that her concerns for the setback have still not been addressed.
Council President Charles Morgan said he agreed that the setback needed to be increased to 50 feet, and suggested a letter be sent from council to the board telling the board to make the change. He said he would collect a list of proposed changes for the ordinances from council members to incorporate into the letter.
The seminary site, which encompasses 68.5 acres, will be developing a total of 652 units, including 272 graduate units, and 380 nongraduate units. Of the 380 units, 304 would be market-rate and 76 would be affordable, a 20 percent set aside.
The third site is the 74.7-acre site on Princeton-Hightstown and Old Trenton roads, where 43.3 acres are developable and 31.4 are environmentally constrained. Officials proposed 140 total units — down from the originally proposed 400 — with 105 being market-rate and 35 being affordable, or, in this case, a 25 percent set aside.
The DiMeglio site, a 14.29-acre tract on Clarksville Road, will produce 114 total units, 91 of which are market-rate and 23 of which are affordable. The township’s obligation will also be met with the help of the Eden Institute, which will be acquiring a single-family home on Wood Hollow Drive to house five adults with autism.
Professional Services Agreements Associated with COAH. In addition to the three professional services agreements that were amended and approved at the December 8 council meeting for work done by Gary Davies, John Madden, and Gerry Muller on redevelopment (see story page 13), the council also approved amended contracts for Madden and Muller associated with their work on the Third Round Council on Affordable Housing rules and fair share plan.
The two increases in the contracts were specifically relating to work the two professionals performed with regard to the township’s third-round plan, which had to be submitted to COAH by December 31 — which is separate from the money they are already paid for work associated with regular Planning Board duties.
The first contract with Muller’s law firm represents a $30,”000 increase in the contract he already has for duties associated with his job as Planning Board attorney. The $30,”000 increase is specifically for his work on COAH, but is added as a line item to his already-approved Planning Board contract. The total contract is now $67,”500, and the additional money is coming out of the township’s affordable housing trust fund.
The same goes with Madden’s contract, which reflects an increase of $12,”000 for additional work required as it relates to COAH for a total contract of $34,”000. He also already has an existing contract with the Planning Board for his planning services, and the extra money for his contract will also come out of the township’s affordable housing trust fund.
